LGBTQ farmers unite to create a safe rural space All the queers I knew were leaving small towns for the city. And here I was, along with a small handful of others, living in Victoria, B.C. and working on a farm—all of us tending dreams of being out on the land. We got to […] More »

I eat meat. I like the taste of it, and each day I witness my belly’s lust for the stuff dupe my mind into concordance. It’s simple. I look at a cluster of cooked chicken strands in a shawarma sandwich and it has none of the paradigmatic signs of life or pain or loss that […] More »

GMO-giant Monsanto made headlines this week when genetically modified wheat was found in an Oregon crop. Genetically modified (GM) wheat is not approved for production or consumption, even in the U.S., though the company tested the strain in 10 states in the ’90s. Scientists speculate the plants found in Oregon may be the result of […] More »

Today’s super-local foodie knows how to can fruit, wear camouflage, and shoot a gun. How killing for meat became the latest eat-conscious trend It’s nearly sunrise, and Justin Stephenson is about 20 feet above the forest floor on a 32-square-foot tree stand. The November weather in Ontario cottage country is frigid. Stephenson’s bundled up in […] More »

When 13-year-old McKenna Pope went to buy an Easy Bake Oven for her little brother (who requested one from Santa), she was appalled to discover that the Hasbro toy only featured females on its packaging, and was only offered in the stereotypically female colours of pink and purple. But instead of settling for an unfairly […] More »

Ian McCormick is one of the new generation of Canadian farmers.  Thanks to programs like FarmStart and CRAFT (Canadian Regional Alliance for Farmer Training), new farmers — young people and folks who often didn’t grow up farming — are trying their hand at small-scale production.  FarmStart helps develop a new generation of farmers by leasing […] More »

I haven’t had a reaction to animal rights as vivid as I did this weekend since I converted to vegetarianism on my 13th birthday. My family has never really done steak, so for my 13th birthday I asked if we could go to a steak house as a rare treat (no pun intended).  My parents […] More »

Last fall, a local Ontario organic apple and pear farmer in my area let our community come and harvest apples for free.  A whole bundle of folks trekked out to the orchard, loaded kids in wagons and wheelbarrows,  and chose our implements of choice – ladders, milk crates, long sticks with burlap bags on the […] More »

This month marked the inaugural Urban Agriculture Summit in Toronto featuring Will Allen as keynote speaker, author of the Good Food Revolution and founder of Growing Power, Inc. On his website he says, “My vision is to have this world where everyone has access to good food … my work is to help to make […] More »

Last night’s packed-out reception for Lisa Myers and Autumn Chacon’s Toronto Now exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario took on the air of a kitchen party, thanks to the chef’s table in the middle of room, covered in utensils and bowls of produce. But once the two artists started cooking, the chatter turned quiet […] More »

Well, it’s nearly August and Margaret Wente’s abrasive views notwithstanding, I am still standing by my local Community Shared Agriculture program in this raging drought. (If you’re looking for a fight, check out her column from earlier this month where she says, “[locavorism is] the most wasteful, inefficient way to feed the human race you […] More »